Method of Storing and Displaying Heated Food

ABSTRACT

A heated food storage and display cabinet comprises an open fronted enclosed chamber within which packs of food can be stored, the cabinet including flow inducing means and heater means arranged in an upper region thereof, the flow inducing means being operable to draw air from an upper portion of the enclosed chamber, direct the air over the heater means to heat the air and subsequently urge the heated air down the rear wall of the chamber and across the floor of the chamber towards the open front of the chamber, said heated air being subsequently directed upwardly and rearwardly across the open front of the chamber by an airflow direction member of the chamber to provide a heated air curtain across the open front of the chamber, wherein a portion of the heated air passes into the chamber as said heated air moves down the rear wall and across the floor so as to pass over and around packs of food stored therein.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

This application is a continuation of U.S. Nonprovisional patentapplication Ser. No. 11/911,885, filed Oct. 18, 2007; which is a §371application of International Application No. PCT/GB2006/001469 filedApr. 21, 2006, and which claims priority to GB50508204.5, filed Apr. 22,2005. Each of these applications is incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a heated food storage and displaycabinet and is primarily concerned with a heated food storage anddisplay cabinet for use in supermarkets, and mixed purpose retailoutlets, such as convenience stores, where heated food is made availablefor purchase.

BACKGROUND

Changes in working patterns have lead to changes in eating habits,particularly with respect to what might be called traditional meal timeswhere a family group sits around a table and eats home cooked food. Itis now becoming increasingly commonplace for convenience meals to beeaten of an evening while watching television from an easy chair. Thischange has, in turn, lead to an increase in takeaway food outlets wherea person can collect a pre-cooked meal or constituent portion to eat athome or on the move.

For some time now, supermarkets have offered a range of prepared foodwhich can be taken home, heated or cooked, and then eaten. However,there is now increasing competition from takeaway food outlets whichsupermarkets wish to address by supplying hot ready cooked meals andsnack items themselves. One of the problems faced by supermarkets is howto keep such food hot whilst making it readily accessible to customersand it is an object of the present invention to provide a cabinet whichwill be suitable for this purpose. A further object of the presentinvention is to provide a heated food storage cabinet which enablesheated air to flow over packs of food contained therein.

According to the present invention there is provided a heated foodstorage and display cabinet comprising an open fronted enclosed chamberwithin which packs of food can be stored, the cabinet including flowinducing means and heater means arranged in an upper region thereof, theflow inducing means being operable to draw air from an upper portion ofthe enclosed chamber, direct the air over the heater means to heat theair and subsequently urge the heated air down the rear wall of thechamber and across the floor of the chamber towards the open front ofthe chamber, said heated air being subsequently directed upwardly andrearwardly across the open front of the chamber by an airflow directionmember of the chamber to provide a heated air curtain across the openfront of the chamber, wherein a portion of the heated air passes intothe chamber as said heated air moves down the rear wall and across thefloor so as to pass over and around packs of food stored therein.

The airflow direction member of the cabinet ensures that the flow ofheated air driven by the flow inducing means is not ejected out throughthe open front of the cabinet. The airflow redirection member preferablyextends across the cabinet between opposing side walls of the cabinet.The airflow redirection member is preferably planar and is inclinedinwardly with respect to the chamber. The airflow redirection member maybe inclined inwardly with respect to the chamber at an angle of between10 to 20 degrees to the vertical. Preferably, the airflow redirectionmember is inclined ant an angle of around 15 degrees to the vertical.

The flow inducing means preferably comprise a pair of fans situated inan upper portion of the chamber. The fans are preferably provided in aside by side arrangement. The heater means are positioned at the fanoutlets. The heater means may preferably comprise one or more electricheating elements. The fans are operable independently of one another andas such may be operated at slightly different speeds so as to ensure auniform distribution of air around the cabinet.

In a preferred embodiment the fans and heater means are provided in afan chamber situated in an upper portion of the cabinet chamber. The fanchamber is provided with an inlet arranged to receive air from withinthe open fronted enclosed chamber of the cabinet and an outlet arrangedto direct heated air towards the rear wall of the enclosed chamber. Theinlet may comprise a plurality of apertures aligned with the inlet tothe fans. The apertures may comprise a plurality of louvered slots. Thefan chamber may be separated from the cabinet chamber by a panelextending between opposed sides of the cabinet chamber. The panel ispreferably movable so a to permit access to the fan chamber. The panelmay be hinged to the cabinet.

The cabinet chamber is preferably provided with one or more food packsupport means. The food pack support means may comprise one or moreshelves. Each shelf may comprise a pair of spaced brackets having a foodpack support member extending therebetween. The support member may beprovided with a apertures therethrough. In a preferred embodiment thesupport member may be inclinable. As such the support member may be setat desired inclination. The support member is preferably provided withan airflow redirection means along its forward edge. The airflowredirection means may be defined by a tab or curved surface extendingalong the forward edge of the support member. The airflow redirectionmeans may be incorporated into a display member provided on the forwardedge of the support member.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provideda method of storing and displaying heated food in an open frontedcabinet, the method comprising providing an open fronted enclosedchamber within which packs of food can be stored, providing flowinducing means and heater means arranged in an upper region thereof,operating said the flow inducing means to draw air from an upper portionof the enclosed chamber, direct the air over the heater means to heatthe air and subsequently urge the heated air down the rear wall of thechamber and across the floor of the chamber towards the open front ofthe chamber, providing an airflow direction member to direct said heatedair upwardly and rearwardly across the open front of the chamber toprovide a heated air curtain across the open front of the chamber, andcausing a portion of the heated air to pass into the chamber as saidheated air moves down the rear wall and across the floor so as to passover and around packs of food stored therein.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In one implementation, the present disclosure is directed to a method ofstoring and displaying heated food in an open fronted cabinet. Themethod includes: providing a chamber within which packs of food can bestored, the chamber having an upper portion, a lower portion, a rearwall and an open front; drawing air from the upper portion of thechamber; heating the air with a heating element disposed above thechamber; urging the heated air from the upper portion to the lowerportion of the chamber with a flow inducer along the rear wall; movingthe heated air across the lower portion of the chamber towards aninwardly angled lip mounted proximate the open front; and redirectingthe heated air upwardly and rearwardly across the open front so as toprovide a heated air curtain across the open front.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, the drawings show aspectsof one or more embodiments of the invention. However, it should beunderstood that the present invention is not limited to the precisearrangements and instrumentalities shown in the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a front view of a cabinet according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional side view if the cabinet of FIG. 1 asindicated by arrows A-A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of the fan and heater arrangement of thecabinet;

FIG. 4 shows a side view of the heater arrangement of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows an exploded view of a shelf of the cabinet;

FIG. 6 shows a partial perspective view of a shelf bracket; and

FIG. 7 shows a side view of a shelf ticket strip.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring firstly to FIGS. 1 and 2 there is shown a cabinet generallydesignated 10. The cabinet 10 comprises a base portion 12 and a productdisplay portion 14 above the base portion 12. The cabinet 10 includes afloor 16, a rear wall 18, opposed side walls 20, a base wall 22 and atop wall 24 and a front wall 26. The base and product display portions12, 14 are delimited by the base wall 22 such that the base portion 12is defined by the floor 16, the base wall 22 and lower portions of therear wall 18 a, side walls 20 a and front wall 26 a. The walls 18 a,20a,22 and 26 a and floor 16 of the base portion 12 define a substantiallyenclosed space 28 The product display portion 14 is defined base wall22, top wall 24 an upper portions of the rear wall 18 b, side walls 20 band front wall 26 b. The walls 18 b,20 b,22,24 and 26 b of the productdisplay portion 14 define partially enclosed space 30, hereinafterreferred to as the heated space 30. The heated space 30 is accessiblethrough the open front 32 of the cabinet 10 defined between the top wall24, and upper portions of the side and front walls 20 b, 26 b. The upperportions of the side walls 20 b are transparent and thus allow theinterior of the heated space 30 to viewed from either side of thecabinet 10.

The underside of the floor 16 is provided with casters 34 to enable thecabinet 10 to be easily moved over the surface, such as the floor of aretail premises, upon which the cabinet 10 is provided. One or more ofthe casters 34 may be lockable so as to enable the cabinet 10 to remainat a desired location. The lower portion 26 a of the front wall isprovided with a bumper rail 36 which extends across the front of thecabinet 10. The bumper rail 36 is provided to protect the cabinet fromimpact damage from, for example, shopping arts or other instore producttransportation equipment. The bumper rail 36 also can be used as ahandle when maneuvering the cabinet 10.

The heated space 30 is provided with shelves 38 which extend across theheated space 30 between the side walls 20. Each shelf 38 comprises apair of brackets 40 which are spanned by a product support member 42formed from a substantially planer portion of plastic coated wire mesh.It will be appreciated that the product support members 42 may haveconfigurations other than that of wire mesh, and the configuration of agiven product support member 42 will depend at least in part in thenature of the food pack it is intended to support. For example, in analternative configuration the support member 42 may be defined by sheetof metal provided with or without perforations. The brackets 40 aremounted to support members provided to the rear of the heated space 30.The support members are positioned forward of the rear wall 18 of thecabinet 10 so that the rear edges of the bracket 40 and support members42 are spaced from the rear wall 18.

hi the embodiment shown the cabinet 10 is provided with three shelves38. It will be appreciated that the cabinet 10 may be provided with agreater or lesser number of shelves 38 depending upon the size andnature of the food packages which the cabinet 10 is to receive anddisplay. The base wall 22 is provided with a tray 44 upon which foodpackages may be placed. The tray 44 is positioned above the base wall 22so as to provide a space 46 therebelow. The tray 44 is also perforated.

In an upper part of the product display portion 14 there is provided afan chamber 48 which is defined between the top wall 24, the side walls20 and a soffit panel 50. Within the fan chamber 48 there are providedtwo blower fans 52 and a plurality of electric heater elements 54. Inthe embodiment shown, the fans 52 are each double inlet blower fans. Thesoffit panel 50 is hinged to the cabinet 10 to permit easy access to thefans 52 and heater elements 54. The fan chamber 48 is provided withinlets defined by a plurality of louvres 56 provided in an forward partof the soffit panel 50 and an outlet 58 which faces the top of the rearwall 18. The heater elements 54 are arranged between the delivery outletof the fans 52 and the chamber outlet 58 so as to heat air ejected fromthe fans 52.

The arrangement of the fans 52 and the heater elements 54 is illustratedin greater detail in FIGS. 3 and 4. The fans 52 are mounted in a side byside arrangement to a heater box 88. The heater box 88 is provided withrespective inlet apertures 90 to which the discharge outlets 92 of thefans 52. The heater box is provided with an outlet 93 which correspondsto the aforementioned outlet 58 of the fan chamber 48. Within the heaterbox 88 there is provided a mounting member 94 which supports the heaterelements 54 in a staggered one up, two down array. The heater elements54 extend substantially across the full width of the heater box 88. Theheater box 88 includes a floor 96 (not shown in FIG. 3) and a two partlid 98,100. In use, sealing means such as, for example, metallized tapeis used to seal any small gaps around the edges of the lid 98,100. Thesealing of such gaps ensures that the vast majority of the air directedinto the heater box 88 by the fans 52 passes over the heater elements 54and out of the outlet 93.

The speed of each fan 52 is independently controllable via a dedicatedvoltage potentiometer. The speed of each fan 52 is independentlycontrollable so as to ensure a uniform distribution of heated air iscirculated around and within the heated space 30. The scroll effect ofthe blades of each fan 52 has the effect of delivering air to therespective fan outlet which is directed slightly to one side. To counterthe scroll effect each fan 52 may be operated a slightly different speedto the other. The fan voltage potentiometers also ensure that theairflow speed over the heater elements 54 is optimised so that themaximum amount of heat energy is transferred to the airstream. Theoptimised speed of the fans 52 is variable depending upon externalambient conditions.

The heater elements 54 may comprise finned ceramic heaters having anoutput of between 500 and 2000 watts. Depending upon such factors as,for example, the ambient temperature surrounding the cabinet 10, theinitial temperature of the food products it is intended to place withinthe cabinet 10, and the anticipated length of time for the food productson display, the heater elements may be operated such that a temperaturewithin the heated space 30 of between 60 to 90 degrees Celsius ismaintained. It will be appreciated that the thermal output of the heaterelements 54 is related to the output airflow of the fans 52. Forexample, the greater the airflow the higher the thermal output that maybe required in order to provide a desired temperature within the heatedspace 30.

Operation of the cabinet 10 will now be described. In use, the fans 52are operated to draw relatively cool air through the soffit panellouvres 56 and into the fan chamber 48 as indicated by arrows 60. Uponinitial start-up of the cabinet 10 it will be appreciated the air drawninto the fan chamber 48 is at ambient temperature, while during normaloperation of the cabinet 10, where heated air is circulated in themanner described below, the air will be at a temperature above that ofambient. The air is accelerated by the fans 52 and passes over theheating elements 54 before exiting the fan chamber 48 via the outlet 58.The heated air stream subsequently impinges upon the rear wall 18 and isdirected downwardly as indicated by arrows 62 along a path definedbetween the rear wall 18 and the rear of the shelf brackets 40. As theheated air travels downwardly along the rear wall 18, portions thereofsplit away and spill into the heated space 30 over and around theshelves 38 and over the tray 44 as indicated by arrows 64. The naturaltendency of the heated air to expand causes the aforementioned portionsthereof to spill into the heated space 30. The temperature of the heatedair is at its greatest as it leaves the heater box 88 and enters theheated space 30. By causing a portion of the heated air to spill intothe heated space 30 as the heated air travels down the rear wall 18 itwill be appreciated that the heat energy imparted to the air by theheater elements 54 is conveyed to the vicinity of food products withinthe heated space 30.

The remaining heated air, upon reaching the base wall 22 is directedthrough the space 46 under the tray 44 as indicated by arrows 66. Due tothe natural buoyancy of the heated air, small amounts thereof riseupwardly through the perforations of the tray 44 as indicated by arrows68. The remaining heated air subsequently reaches the front wall upperportion 26 b whereupon it is redirected upwards and into the heatedspace 30. A portion of this heated air is directed towards the louvres56 so as to provide a heated air curtain extending between the frontwall upper portion 26 b and the louvres 56 as indicated by arrows 70.The remainder of the heated air is directed towards the shelves 38 asindicated by arrows 72 whereupon it mixes with air spilling over andaround the shelves from the airstream travelling down the rear wall 18as indicated by arrows 74. The air curtain 70 prevents relatively coolair, indicated by arrows 76, which is external to the cabinet 10 fromentering the heated space 30 and thereby lowering the temperature of theheated space 30.

The operation of the cabinet 10 may be considered to comprise the stepsof compression of cooler air by the fans 52, heating of the compressedair by the heater elements 54 and the subsequent expansion of the heatedair into the heated space 30.

The redirection of the heated air from the space 46 below the tray 44back into the heated space 30 as described above is achieved by the useof an angled lip 78 provided upon the upper edge of the upper portion ofthe front wall 26 b. The lip 78 extends across the upper portion of thefront wall 26 b between the side walls 20. The lip 78 is angled inwardlywith respect to the heated space 30. The inclination of the lip 78 ischosen such that air is neither directly expelled from the cabinet 10nor deflected out of the cabinet 10 by the lower shelves 38, situationswhich can occur if the lip angle is either too shallow or too steep. Inthe embodiment shown the lip 78 is inclined to the vertical at an angleof around 15 degrees. The cabinet 10 utilises the natural ability of theheated air to rise in order to promote the circulation of heated airaround and through the shelves 38 and around food products supportedthereon.

Circulation of heated air within the chamber 10 is also assisted by theconfiguration of the shelves 38. Each shelf 38 is provided at itsforward edge with a ticket strip 80 upon which product pricing andlabelling information can be attached. The ticket strip 80 is furtherconfigured to act in the manner of a spoiler or similar aerodynamic aidwhich directs heated air which impinges upon it. The heated air isdirected upwardly and towards the rear of the heated space as indicatedby arrows 82. For optimum efficiency the strip 80 is inclined at apredetermined angle to the upper surface 84 of the product supportmember 42. In the embodiment shown the ticket strip 80 is inclined at anangle of 35 degrees.

The shelves 38 may be configured such that the product support member 42can be set and maintained at one of a range of inclination angles. Forexample the product support member 42 may be set at one of threepositions corresponding to a flat position, where the shelf issubstantially parallel to a reference plane such as the surface uponwhich the cabinet 10 is provided, and two inclined positions which areinclined with regard to the reference plane. For example, the supportmember 42 may be inclined at angles of 10 and 20 degrees to thereference plane. The ticket strip 80 is arranged on each shelf 38 suchthat the required inclination angle thereof relative to the uppersurface 84 of the support member 42 is maintained irrespective of theinclination angle of the support member 42 relative to the referenceplane.

Referring now to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, the construction of a shelf 38 isshown in greater detail. Each bracket 40 is substantially triangular andis provided with upper and lower attachment formations 102,104 whichenable the bracket 40 to be fitted to appropriately configured mountingsites if the cabinet 10. The upper attachment formation 102 is in theform of a hook 106 which is received in a slot of the cabinet 10. Thehook 106 includes a recess 108 into which an edge of the slot isreceived, in use. The lower attachment formation 104 takes the form ofcurved projection 110 having a plurality of spaced recesses 112. Theprojection 110 is received in a slot of the cabinet 10. In a similarmanner to the hook 106, an edge of the lower mounting member receivingslot is received in one of the recesses 112 of the projection 110. Itwill be understood that the inclination angle of the bracket 40, andhence the support member 42 is dependent upon which of the projectionrecesses 112 receives the edge of the slot.

The product support member 42 comprises a frame 114 having portions ofwire mesh 116 attached thereto. The edges of the frame 114 are foldedand the brackets 40 are provided with formations 118 arranged to receivethe folded edges. The ticket strip 80 comprises a substantially rigidportion 120 and a flexible portion 122. The rigid portion 120 comprisesa leg 124 which is attachable to the product support member 42 and asupport strip 126 for the flexible portion 122 which is inclinedrelative to the leg 124. The support strip 126 comprises an extension128 of the leg 124 with a further strip 130 of material attachedthereto. The flexible portion 122 is formed form an extruded strip ofplastics material and includes an attachment recess 132 and a ticketreceiving recess 134. The attachment recess 132 is defined by a centralwall 136 of the flexible portion which is provided on opposing edgeswith lips 138. The ticket receiving recess 134 is defined between a thecentral wall 136 and a flap 140 connected thereto by a living hinge 142.In use, the living hinge 142 is provided along the top edge of theticket strip 80 so as to prevent the ingress of grease, oil or othermatter into the ticket receiving recess 134. The flexible portion 122 isremovable from the rigid portion 120 for cleaning purposes or ininstances where the flexible portion 122 needs to be replaced orrenewed.

A control panel 86 for the cabinet 10 is provided in the enclosed space28 of the base portion 12. The control panel 86 is arranged to permit anoperator set the operating parameters of the cabinet. More specificallythe control panel 86 permits an operator of the cabinet 10 to set thetemperature at which the heated space 30 is maintained.

The control panel 86 is provided with a fan motor cut-off timer whichallows the fans 52 to continue to run for a predetermined time periodonce the heater elements 54 have been switched off, for example when thecabinet 10 is switched off at the end of the day. The overrunning of thefans 52 increases the service life of the fans 52 by reducing latentheat build up. The overrunning of the fans 52 also leads to a quickercooling of the heated space 30 after shut down of the cabinet 10 whichin turn permits daily cleaning of the cabinet to be carried out morequickly.

The control panel 86 is further provided with an over temperature safetycut-out system which is arranged to detect abnormal rises in temperatureof the cabinet 10. If such a temperature rise is detected than thesystem cuts all power to the cabinet 10. Abnormal temperature rises maybe caused by, for example, failure of one or both fans 52 or anmalfunction of the heater elements 54.

The control panel 86 is provided with an electronic temperaturecontroller to regulate the temperature within the heated space 30. Thetemperature within the heated space 30 is sensed by a thermocouple whichis located in the downwardly directed heated air flow path at the rearof the cabinet 10. The thermocouple is provided with appropriateshielding so as not to be effected by external factors which mayadversely affect the operation of the thermocouple and hence cause it togive a false reading of the temperature of the heated space 30. Suchexternal factors may include, for example, draughts of cold air.

It will be understood that the cabinet 10 is not intended to heat foodproducts from cold, but instead is intended to retard the cooling ofheated food products which are placed in the heated space 30. Uponinitial start up the cabinet 10 is operated to bring the heated space 30up to the required temperature before heated food products are placetherein.

As indicated above, the speed of each fan 52 may be set and adjustedindependently of the other via a dedicated voltage potentiometer 53 (oneof which is shown in FIG. 1). This feature permits the characteristicsof the air curtain to be altered. During initial installation andcommissioning of the cabinet 10 it may be observed that the cabinet 10is subject to an incident external airflow such as, for example, adraught, which may cause deflection of air curtain. The speeds of thefans 52 can be set such that the air curtain is able to resist theinfluence of the draught.

While the cabinet 10 described above is provided with a substantiallyuniform and uninterrupted rear wall 18, an alternative embodiment of thecabinet 10 may be provided with a rear wall 18 having an access aperturesuch as a sliding door. The provision of a door of this type enables thecabinet to be replenished from the rear. It will further be appreciatedthat arrangements other than shelves 38 may be provided in the heatedspace 30. For example adjacent brackets 40 may be provided with one ormore rods which extend across the heated space 30 and from which foodproducts may be suspended, hi an alternative embodiment the brackets 40may be removed and replaced with a plurality of prongs which extend fromthe rear of the heated space 30 towards the open front 32 of the cabinet10. The prongs may be utilised to suspend food products in bags.

The present invention seeks to retard the cooling of heated foodproducts placed within the heated space 30. The retarded cooling effectis realised by surrounding the food products with a controlled heatedair environment and by preventing the food products from being subjectedto draughts and the like. It will be appreciated that the cabinet of thepresent invention does not seek to heat the food products by surfaceconduction or radiation. The shelves or other product support means, aswell as the walls of the cabinet, are not heated by conduction and/orradiation and hence are not heated to a temperature which maypotentially be harmful to person retrieving a product from the heatedspace. It will further be appreciated that the presence of the aircurtain across the open front of the cabinet prevents the escape ofheated air from within the heated space.

Exemplary embodiments have been disclosed above and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. It will be understood by those skilled in the artthat various changes, omissions and additions may be made to that whichis specifically disclosed herein without departing from the spirit andscope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of storing and displaying heated food inan open fronted cabinet, the method comprising: providing a chamberwithin which packs of food can be stored, the chamber having an upperportion, a lower portion, a rear wall and an open front; drawing airfrom the upper portion of the chamber; heating the air with a heatingelement disposed above the chamber; urging the heated air from the upperportion to the lower portion of the chamber with a flow inducer alongthe rear wall; moving the heated air across the lower portion of thechamber towards an inwardly angled lip mounted proximate the open front;and redirecting the heated air upwardly and rearwardly across the openfront so as to provide a heated air curtain across the open front. 2.The method of claim 1, further comprising causing a portion of theheated air to pass into the chamber as the heated air moves down therear wall and across the lower portion so as to pass over and around thepacks of food.